On Thursday, May 24th I was busy getting our family all packed up for a 3-night camping trip to Viking Lake in Southwest Iowa with my brother's family. Our parents had taken us camping there many times and we wanted to take our families back there foe the holiday weekend. We had booked the campsites at Easter and had made lists of what to pack. David and I were on the phone making last minute plans when we got the news our Grandmother Lois Stephens had been taken to the hospital unresponsive. We were later told she had passed away that night. We were both caught off guard by the sad news and not sure what to do next, but it is hard to explain to 3 little kids who are looking forward to camping and swimming and fishing. So, the next day we decided to honor our Grandmother's memory by doing something she also enjoyed - we went camping!
Thankfully David and Betsy let us borrow their mini van while they drove the truck & boat to the lake. We had the mini van stuffed! Tyler loved having a car DVD player to watch Curious George! You can also see that Hannah is now in a big girl forward-facing car seat and Tyler got a new booster seat!
Once the tents were up I sent Adam to the beach with Tyler & Kelsey while Hannah and I unpacked the cooking supplies and made the beds.
New sand toys - so much fun!!
Swimming!!
My parents and 4 sets of aunts & uncles plus cousins came to join us at different parts of our evening to enjoy a s'more at the campfire. Tyler had fun roasting his own hotdog!
Hannah's s'more was missing the chocolate and marshmallow, but somehow she still ended up with chocolate on her face!
Hannah slept really well in the tent when it was cooler at night but she woke up 2 hours earlier than normal, so at 6am she and I played while Tyler slept and Adam went on a 10K run around the lake.
Hannah thinks she needs her own tricycle!
Playing with our new net in the water - trying to catch some fish
Going on the same 2+ mile trail hike that went took when we were kids. David found gooseberries to pick.
Tyler and Kelsey enjoying the view from the lookout tower on the hike.
We hiked from nature marker 22 to 9 (we hiked backwards) before the kids stopped for a snack on the bench under the granddaddy oak tree.
Our family after the nature hike
Me and my dad (sister Emily was in the backpack) after our Viking Lake nature hike in the 80's!
Second afternoon of swimming at the lake
Hannah came this time to splash around and play in the sand
Between the sun, water, wind, and heat - then riding in the air conditioned van back to the campsite...these kids were TOTALLY worn out! Adam looked back and said "I don't think he is faking sleep this time."
Last day - the kids and I played at the park while David, Betsy & Adam packed up the gear.
Fun weekend, lots of memories, and I was the only one with a sunburn!
No comments:
Post a Comment